Remote visual and auditory monitoring system

ABSTRACT

A well site remote monitoring system comprises a monitoring station, a number of recording devices, a number of sensors, a processor, and a power source. The monitoring station supports the recording devices, processor, and power source thereon and is positioned at a strategic location at a well site so that the recording devices can create video, audio, or other recordings of points of interest of the well site. The processor controls the recording devices and uploads the recordings to a remote server computer for storage and so that an operator can manage and view the recordings on a remote monitoring computer.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a non-provisional application and claimspriority benefit, with regard to all common subject matter, ofearlier-filed U.S. provisional patent application titled “REMOTE VISUALAND AUDITORY MONITORING SYSTEM,” Ser. No. 61/883,482, filed Sep. 27,2013. The identified earlier-filed application is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety into the present application.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a system, method, and computer programfor remotely monitoring a well site.

Well sites are often monitored remotely via SCADA (Supervisory Controland Data Acquisition). However, SCADA requires a monitored well site tohave sensors and gauges installed in or on the well components for dataacquisition. This level of integration entails complicated andcost-prohibitive installation steps and is often not feasible forisolated, old, or unconventional well sites. Well sites are also oftendissimilar, which prevents the reuse of any single SCADA setup. Also,SCADA collects performance and status data but does not provide sitesafety and site security data.

SUMMARY

The present invention solves the above-described problems and provides adistinct advance in the art of well site monitoring. More particularly,the present invention provides a system, method, and computer programfor remotely monitoring a well site, drilling site, or other industrialsite via visual and auditory data collection, transmission, and review.

An embodiment of the present invention is a well site remote monitoringsystem that comprises a monitoring station, a number of recordingdevices, a number of sensors, a processor, and a power source.

The monitoring station houses and/or supports the recording devices, theprocessor, and the power source in a strategic location at the well siteand may be a stand-alone tripod frame or any other suitable structure.The monitoring station provides an optimal vantage point for therecording devices to focus on points of interest around the well site.

The recording devices record video, audio, or other data and may includea camera, camcorder, microphone, or any other suitable recording device.The recording devices are positioned at or near a top of the monitoringstation for an optimal view of the points of interest.

The sensors detect the occurrence of certain events or criteria that mayneed to be monitored and may include motion sensors, infrared sensors,heat sensors, or any other suitable sensor. The sensors are placed inpredetermined locations around the well site for detecting the events orcriteria.

The processor performs algorithms for managing and controlling the abovedevices and for manipulating and routing the data being transmittedbetween the devices. The processor is mounted on the monitoring stationor positioned elsewhere on the well site.

The power source powers the recording devices, the sensors, and/or theprocessor and may be a solar panel mounted on the monitoring station orany other suitable electric power source.

Embodiments of the present invention may be used with a number of remoteserver computers and a number of remote monitoring computerscommunicating with each other and with the processor over a wired orwireless communication network. The remote server computers may beoperated by or for a company that provides well site remote monitoringsystem installation and support and stores monitoring recordings andother data for a number of well sites. The remote monitoring computersmay be operated by an operator (i.e., a user who monitors well sites),well owner, pumper, or other users to remotely view and/or reviewmonitoring videos, pictures, and other data via a computer application(described below), website, or computer program.

Embodiments of the invention may also include a computer application formanaging and viewing the recordings on the remote monitoring computers.The application may include a graphical user interface that includesbuttons, input boxes, and other user inputs and executable code forimplementing the functions of the invention. For example, the executablecode includes code segments for inviting new users to become associatedwith a predetermined well site and for a well site owner to create andmanage more than one well site, videos, and other data associated witheach well site. The executable code also includes code segments forentering comments, notes, and alerts for managing the videos, and forsetting or changing parameters of the well site remote monitoringsystem. The executable code further includes code segments for allowingthe operator to start a live video session, and control the recordingdevices.

In use, the recording devices create video, audio, or other recordingsof points of interest at the well site periodically, upon the occurrenceof a trigger event or criteria, and/or on demand. The processor uploadsthe recordings and related data to the remote server computers forstorage thereon via the wired or wireless communication network. Theoperator or other user then manages and/or views the recordings via theapplication on one of the remote monitoring computers. The operator mayalso assume manual control of the recording devices via the applicationand view the points of interest in real time.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspectsand advantages of the present invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanyingdrawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below withreference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a well site remote monitoring systemconstructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the well site remote monitoring system of FIG.1 at a well site;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the monitoring station of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a screen display of a graphical user interface of anapplication of the well site remote monitoring system;

FIG. 5 is another screen display of the graphical user interface of FIG.4; and

FIG. 6 is another screen display of the graphical user interface of FIG.4.

The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specificembodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of the invention references theaccompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which theinvention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describeaspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled inthe art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized andchanges can be made without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is definedonly by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents towhich such claims are entitled.

In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or“embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to areincluded in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separatereferences to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” inthis description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and arealso not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. Forexample, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment mayalso be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included.Thus, the present technology can include a variety of combinationsand/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.

Aspects of the present invention may be at least partially implementedwith a well site remote monitoring system 10 broadly referred to by thenumeral 10 in FIG. 1. The well site remote monitoring system 10 includesa monitoring station 12, a number of recording devices 14 a-c, a numberof sensors 16 a-c, a processor 18, a communication component 20, a killbox 22, a power source 24, one or more remote server computers 26, oneor more remote monitoring computers 28, and a remote monitoring computerapplication.

The monitoring station 12 houses and/or supports one or more of therecording devices 14 a-c, the processor 18, and the communicationcomponent 20 at a well site 100 and may be a stand-alone frame, ascaffold, a tower, a mount, or any other suitable structure. In oneembodiment, the monitoring station 12 is a stand-alone frame 30 having anumber of support legs 32 a-c, a number of middle cross members 34 a-c,a number of top cross members 36 a-c, and a vertical top member 38, asshown in FIG. 3.

The stand-alone frame 30 may be a permanent, temporary, or portablestructure and may be formed of a single piece or a number of pieces thatcan be collapsed or disassembled. The stand-alone frame 30 may be formedof steel, aluminum, titanium, or any other suitable material. Thestand-alone frame 30 is between approximately three meters toapproximately six meters tall so as to elevate the recording devices 14a-c for providing an improved vantage point and improved reception. Thestand-alone frame 30 may be anchored in or fixed to the ground forwithstanding high winds and other weather.

The support legs 32 a-c may be one inch or one and three-fourths inchsquare tubing or similar and may be held in place by welding orself-tapping screws, bolts, clamps, or similar hardware. The supportlegs 32 a-c extend outwardly to the ground at approximately a fifteendegree angle for providing a more sturdy base area. The support legs 32a-c may be oriented in the same orthogonal direction so that sides ofthe square tubing are aligned for mounting solar panels and the likethereto.

The middle cross members 34 a-c connect to the support legs 32 a-capproximately halfway up the support legs 32 a-c and may beapproximately sixty inches to approximately seventy-eight inches fromthe ground when the stand-alone frame 30 is erected. The middle crossmembers 34 a-c may be notched at their ends for butting up to thesupport legs 32 a-c and being secured thereto with self-tapping screwsor other similar hardware.

The top cross members 36 a-c connect to the support legs 32 a-c near thetop of the support legs 32 a-c and support the vertical top member 38 ata central point. The top cross members 36 a-c may each be a three inchC-channel approximately sixteen inches long.

The vertical top member 38 extends above the top cross members 36 a-cfor mounting at least one of the recording devices 14 a-c thereon. Thisreduces interference from the frame 30 and from the other devices. Thevertical top member 38 may be formed of one and three-fourths inchsquare tubing inserted into a two inch square tubing sleeve.

The recording devices 14 a-c record video, audio, and other data ofpoints of interest around the well site 100 and may include a camera, acamcorder or other video recording device, a heat scanner, a soundrecorder such as a microphone, an ultrasonic device, SONAR, RADAR,LiDAR, or any other suitable device capable of capturing information.For example, recording device 14 a may be a camera positioned near thetop of the monitoring station 12 in a central and optimal vantage point.The camera may be covered by a dark dome for being concealed. Therecording device 14 b may be a microphone positioned near a point ofinterest, on or near the camera, or at another optimal location. Themicrophone may be wireless and directional so as to pick up sound wavesover a large distance (e.g. ten to one hundred meters). The microphonemay be integral with or separate from the camera, and as such, may beoperated independently from the camera. The recording device 14 c may bea second or alternative microphone that senses vibration.

The sensors 16 a-c detect the occurrence of certain events or criteriathat may need to be monitored, as described below, and may be heat,infrared, ultrasonic, microwave, tomographic, or other suitable sensorsplaced in predetermined locations around the well site 100 such as neara well, a gate, a main road, or an access-way. The sensors 16 a-cinclude a communication component for communicating with the processor18, as described below.

The processor 18 controls the recording devices 14 a-c and communicateswith the sensors 16 a-c, the kill box 22, the remote server computers26, and/or the remote monitoring computers 28 over a wired or wirelesscommunication network 40 (described below). The processor performsalgorithms for managing and controlling the above devices and formanipulating and routing the data between the devices. The processor 18is mounted on the monitoring station 12 or located elsewhere on the wellsite 100. The processor 18 may comprise computing devices, servers,databases, and communications networks to facilitate the functions andfeatures described herein. The computing devices and servers maycomprise any number and combination of processors, controllers,integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, or other data andsignal processing devices for carrying out the functions describedherein, and may additionally comprise one or more memory storagedevices, communication components, and/or communication busses forcommunicating with the various devices of the system. In variousembodiments of the invention, the computing devices may comprise amemory element, a communication component, a display, and/or a userinterface.

In embodiments of the invention, the processor 18, computing devicesand/or databases may implement a computer program and/or code segmentsof the computer program to perform some of the functions describedherein. The computer program may comprise a listing of executableinstructions for implementing logical functions in the user device. Thecomputer program can be embodied in any computer readable medium for useby or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice, and execute the instructions. In the context of thisapplication, a “computer readable medium” can be any means that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice. The computer readable medium can be, for example, but notlimited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electro-magnetic,infrared, or semi-conductor system, apparatus, device or propagationmedium. More specific, although not inclusive, examples of the computerreadable medium would include the following: a portable computerdiskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), anerasable, programmable, read only memory (EPROM or flash memory), and aportable compact disk read only memory (CDROM), and combinationsthereof. The various actions and calculations described herein as beingperformed by or using the computer program may actually be performed byone or more computers, processors, or other computational devices,independently or cooperatively executing portions of the computerprogram.

The communication component 20 receives and transmits signals betweenthe recording devices 14 a-c, the sensors 16, the processor 18, theremote server computers 26, and/or the remote monitoring computers 28.The communication component 20 may be a transceiver mounted near the topof the vertical top member 36 of the monitoring station 12 for improvedsignal reception or may be a cable or wire connector.

The kill box 22 shuts down a well or well component at the well site 100when a critical event occurs or other condition is met, as describedbelow. The kill box 22 includes a control or integrated processor thatopens a relay, thus removing power from the well or other system. Thekill box 22 may be wired or wirelessly linked to the processor 18,remote server computers 26, or remote monitoring computers 28.

The power source 24 powers the devices on the monitoring station 12 andmay include solar panels mounted on the monitoring station 12 (FIG. 3),120V or 240V power provided by the well site 100, and/or wind power. Thepower source 24 may also include a power control panel, a batterycharger, and rechargeable batteries.

The remote server computers 26 are provided for storing videos,pictures, and other data captured by the recording devices 14 a-c andinclude an off-site server or group of servers (e.g., the “cloud”)including a computer readable medium and other computer components forstoring the data thereon. The remote server computers 26 may each storeonly a portion of the data or that each store independent copies of thedata. The remote server computers 26 store the data remotely for up toapproximately six months.

Embodiments of the remote server computers 26 may include one or moreservers running Windows; LAMP (Linux, Apache HTPP server, MySQL, andPHP/Perl/Python); Java; NT; Novel Netware; Unix; Mac OS; or any othersoftware system. The remote server computers 26 include or have accessto computer memory and other hardware and software for receiving,storing, accessing, and transmitting information via the communicationnetwork 40, as described below. The remote server computers 26 may alsoinclude conventional web hosting operating software, searchingalgorithms, and an Internet connection, and are assigned URLs andcorresponding domain names so that they can be accessed via the Internetin a conventional manner.

The remote monitoring computers 28 may be any devices used by theoperator, well owner, pumper, or other users for monitoring one or morewell sites via the computer application (described below). The remotemonitoring computers 28 may be any type of mobile smartphone, handhelddevice, tablet, laptop computer, or portable gaming system. The remotemonitoring computers 28 each include a touch screen display or a similarscreen with button inputs and further include computing hardware,software, memory, and transmitting and receiving hardware and software.The remote monitoring computers 28 each preferably include or can accessan Internet browser and a conventional Internet connection such as awireless broadband connection, DSL converter, or ISDN converter so thatit can receive communications from the remote server computers 26 viathe communication network 40, as described below.

The wired or wireless communication network 40 connects the processor 18(via the communication component 20), the remote server computers 26,and the remote monitoring computers 28 and may be the Internet, a localarea network, a wide area network, an intranet, or a “Wi-Fi”, cellular,satellite, 3G, 4G, DSL, cable, or other wired or wireless networkconnection including a pre-existing connection. The wirelesscommunication network 40 may include or be in communication with awireless network capable of supporting wireless communications such asthe wireless networks operated by AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint. Thecommunication network 40 may also be combined or implemented withseveral different wired or wireless networks.

The components of the well site remote monitoring system 10 illustratedand described herein are merely examples of equipment that may be usedto implement embodiments of the present invention and may be replacedwith other equipment without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. Some of the illustrated components of the system 10 may alsobe combined or switched and/or may be operated by the same or anypersons or entities. For example, the aspects of the present inventionperformed with the remote server computers 26 may be performed with theremote monitoring computers 28 and/or the processor 18 and vice versa.Similarly, the remote server computers 26 and the remote monitoringcomputers 28 may be operated by any persons or entities. For example,the remote server computers 26 may be operated by a systemadministrator, and the remote monitoring computers 28 may be operated byan operator (i.e., a user who monitors well sites), well owner, pumper,or other users.

The computer application includes a graphical user interface 42 for theoperator, well owner, pumper, or other users to view and manage recordeddata and to manage multiple well sites. The graphical user interface 42includes virtual buttons, menus, other inputs, images, textboxes, andother displays, as described below.

The well site remote monitoring system 10 may be installed on one ormore well sites, drilling sites, or other industrial sites. Old,unconventional, or isolated well sites such as well site 100 especiallybenefit from the features of the present invention. The well site 100may have a number of components such as a well head 102, a pump jack104, a vertical separator 106, a water tank 108, an oil tank 110, a maincontrol 112, and a gate 114, as shown in FIG. 2. The well sitecomponents are often separated by tens or hundreds of meters and mayhave trees, rocks, dirt roads, and rough terrain between them. Thesensors 16 a-c are positioned at strategic locations around the wellsite 100 such as near the well head 102, gate 114, and other points ofinterest. The monitoring station 12 is positioned at a strategiclocation such as a clearing or central location that provides a clearvantage of the points of interest. For example, the recording devices 14a-c should have unobstructed lines of sight from the top of themonitoring station 12 to the points of interest.

Operation of the remote well site monitoring system 10 will now bedescribed in more detail. The well site monitoring system 10 collectsvisual and auditory data of the well site components and other points ofinterest via the recording devices 14 a-c. For example, the recordingdevice 14 a (e.g., a video camera) records high resolution videos andimages by zooming in to focus on a point of interest having smalldetails such as the numbers on a gauge, the position of a valve, or apossible tank leak. The recording device 14 a may capture a short (e.g.,one to five second) video or may capture a still image once the point ofinterest is in focus. The recording device 14 a may zoom out to record awider area at once and may also pan and tilt to increase its recordingrange. In this way, a number of well components may be recorded via asingle recording device by first zooming into a point of interest on onewell component and moving and zooming into a second point of interest ina different direction and at a different distance. For example, therecording device 14 a may first focus on a well head southwest of therecording device 14 a and forty meters away and then focus on a watertank northwest of the recording device 14 a and thirty-four meters away.The recording device 14 a may utilize “pre-event” recording, wherein therecording device 14 a records and locally saves video data up to thirtyseconds long. The pre-event video data is discarded periodically andreplaced with new pre-event video data. If an event/incident occurs,such as the sensors 16 a-c sensing motion, the pre-event video dataleading up to the time of the event is saved and uploaded along withvideo data recorded as a result of the triggered event. In this way,important video data of the source of the incident may be capturedbefore one of the sensors 16 a-c activates the recording device 14 a.

The well site remote monitoring system 10 uses three primary datacollection modes: periodic recording, incident recording, and mannedlive viewing. In periodic recording, a PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) “guardtour” is pre-set to collect data from various components once per apredetermined cycle time, such as approximately thirty minutes toapproximately one hour. For example, the processor 18 may instruct therecording device 14 a to move from a home position and focus on a firstpoint of interest, record approximately three to approximately fiveseconds of video data of the first point of interest, then move, focus,and record approximately three to approximately five seconds of videodata of the second point of interest, and so on. The processor 18 mayinstruct the recording device 14 a to move or return to various startingpoints, midpoints, endpoints, and home positions. Each recording isindexed with metadata such as date and time, point of interest, and wellsite. The processor 18 receives the recording created by the recordingdevice 14 a and the corresponding metadata and routes the data andmetadata to the communication component 20 for transmitting therecording and metadata to the remote server computers 26 via thecommunication network 40.

In incident recording, one of the recording devices 14 a-c is activatedwhen one of the sensors 16 a-c senses movement or a signal is receivedfrom an accompanying SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition)system. An incident may be an intruder trespassing, an unwanted animalroaming on the site, a leak, an explosion, or another malfunction. Insuch an event, an alert is generated and transmitted to the operator orother user indicating an incident is occurring. One of the recordingdevices 14 a-c is instructed to focus in a pre-set direction or on awell component or an area in which the incident is occurring in anattempt to provide visual or auditory documentation and to mitigate theincident. The recording device 14 a continues to record until instructedto stop recording. Any recording or image data is recorded and storedlocally and/or uploaded in real time to the remote server computers 26.

In manned live video, the operator may remotely control one of therecording devices 14 a-c to obtain video or audio data on any section orpoint of interest of the well site 100. The data is streamed virtuallyinstantaneously to one of the remote monitoring computers 28 so that theoperator may monitor the well site 100 in real time.

At any time, and regardless of the data collection mode in use, the killbox 22 may receive an instruction from the operator to shut down thewell or other well component by opening the relay so as to cut power tothe well or well component. The kill box 22 may also automatically shutdown the well or well component when a predetermined condition isreached such as a high tank pressure or a predetermined ambientpressure.

The processor 18 uploads the recorded data to the remote servercomputers 26 via the communication component 20 and the communicationnetwork 40. Because the periodically recorded data is short in durationor includes still frames or other small files and is generated only onceevery approximately thirty minutes, the well site remote monitoringsystem 10 uses only approximately 2-5 GB of bandwidth per month duringroutine operation. Uploading incident data collection mode data to theremote server computers 26 may take approximately 250 MB per month (forstill images or other small data files), which is low enough forutilizing mobile broadband 3G or 4G technology. If the operator utilizesthe live video feed data collection mode, bandwidth usage increases anadditional approximately 24 GB per month. For cameras recording in highdefinition (HD) quality, bandwidth usage may increase an additionalapproximately 60 GB per month. However, general use of the well siteremote monitoring system 10 should require approximately 3 GB per monthand may utilize as little as 56 kb modem speeds. As can be appreciated,data may be uploaded less or more frequently than once everyapproximately thirty minutes.

Uploading recorded data to the remote server computers 26 is performedin small portions to minimize bandwidth and so that the operator mayview some of the files or data on one of the remote monitoring computers28 as the files are uploaded. This allows the operator to view videoscloser to “real time” and to more quickly address issues that arise. Ifa network connection is unavailable, the files or data are storedlocally on the processor 18 until the network connection is restored.

The remote server computers 26 store the recorded data remotely from thewell site 100 for up to six months. If the user makes a commentregarding a video file or other data file or an alert associated with adata file is generated (as described below), the file is savedindefinitely or for the life of the agreement between the user and theserver owner.

Data collection routines, other parameters, and settings of therecording devices 14 a-c such as periodic cycle times and video lengthsmay be hardcoded or hardwired such that the recording devices 14 a-c areready to be used when installed. The parameters may also be set orchanged via limited access by the installer (optionally by request ofthe client). Alternatively, the parameters and settings may be set orchanged by an administrator or other designated user via the application(described below).

Turning to FIGS. 4-6, operation of an application that allows anoperator or other user to manage and view well site recordings on one ofthe remote monitoring computers 28 will now be described in detail. Anew user may be invited to use or install the application and to becomeassociated with a predetermined well site by an invitation 44 sent fromanother user via the new user's email address, as shown in FIG. 4. Theinvitation 44 is received in the new user's email or message inbox. Theinvitation 44 includes a hyperlink for the new user to select whichdirects the new user to a website for downloading and installing theapplication. Alternatively, the invitation 44 may include a downloadableapplication file for installing on the user's device. Once opened, theapplication provides a new user profile creator for the new user tocreate or input a username, a password, security questions and answers,and an email address for receiving alerts or additional correspondences.Once the user has created a profile, the application allows the user tolog in and review data of the preselected well site. The user may beinvited to view additional well sites by accepting additionalinvitations from other users. Thus, at any time, the user may haveaccess to data for one or more well sites. The application allows theuser to invite other new users to use the application or current usersto be associated with a well site with which the user is associated.

The application allows a well site owner to create a well site profilevia an administrator (i.e., a user designated for managing well siteinformation). The administrator may invite other users to be associatedwith the well site. The application provides each well site with aninvitation list associated with it. Thus, a well site may be accessibleto multiple operators (i.e., users who monitor well sites), well siteowners, pumpers, administrators, and producers. Users may thus beassociated with multiple well sites of various owners.

The user may switch between well sites by selecting a well site from adrop down menu or an equivalent selector, as shown in FIG. 5. When awell site is selected, the application displays the name of the wellsite, the company that owns the well site, and a still frame 46 of avideo of the most recent periodic tour. Alternatively, the applicationmay automatically begin playing the video. The application may alsodisplay metadata of the displayed video including a camera identifier(e.g., “Camera One”), the date and time of the video recording, a dateand time that the video was first or last viewed, tank levels etc. takenat the time of recording, and any comments (described below). The usermay view the most recent video by clicking on the still frame 46 or a“play” button. The user may input comments related to the recorded datafor future reference. The comments are fully searchable. For example,the user may input comments for multiple wells regarding possible leaks.The user may later wish to fix all of the leaks. The user searches forthe word “leak” and the application retrieves all of the videos withcomments that have the word “leak” in them. The comments may also beorganized by date or by well site. The application may also have analert section that lists all of the alerts or only the most currentalerts associated with the displayed well site. The alerts may besearched and may be divided by category such as “security” and “wellsite performance”.

The camera identifier may be a selectable link, which provides a list orarray of “thumbnails” of additional videos recorded by the camera, inchronological or reverse chronological order. The list or array alsodisplays the time of recording and various SCADA readings (if the wellsite is integrated with a SCADA system) made at the time of recording.The list or array may display all of the videos for the present orselected day at once, as shown in FIG. 6. The user may repopulate thelist with videos from a different day by selecting a date from a dropdown menu. The videos may be searched from the previous 90 days to thepresent day.

The application also displays a link for the user to begin a live videosession. The live video session may be displayed within the applicationor may be opened in a new applet. In a live video session, theapplication allows the user to control one of the recording devices 14a-c for selective viewing of the well site 100. In this way, the usermay view the well site 100 in real time since the live video is streamedto the application. The application also allows the user to switchbetween the preset “snap-to” viewing locations for quickly viewingpoints of interest in real time.

The application provides a button or other input for the user toactivate the kill box 22 if the user determines that the well site 100should be shut down. When the button is pressed, the application sends asignal to the processor 18 on the well site 100 which in turn instructsthe kill box 22 to open the relay. The application may also indicate tothe user that the well site 100 is shutting down or that the well site100 has successfully shut down. The application may also open a livevideo session for the user to monitor the well site 100 while it isshutting down. Alternatively, the application may display additionalvideos recorded at the time of shut down for the user to review.

As mentioned above, the application may allow the administrator or adesignated user to set or change parameters of the well site remotemonitoring system 10. For that purpose, the application provides aninterface including virtual buttons, input boxes, slides, radio buttons,drop down menus, etc. for modifying the parameters. For example, theadministrator may wish to reposition the recording device 14 a if thewell has become out of frame. As another example, the administrator maywish to increase the camera periodic cycle time from thirty minutes toone hour to conserve bandwidth.

The above-described well site remote monitoring system 10, method, andcomputer application provide several advantages over conventional remotemonitoring systems. For example, the well site remote monitoring system10 can be easily installed on any well site without disassembling orconnecting to any of the well components. The well site remotemonitoring system 10 collects well site information as well as safetyand security information. The processor 18 can be easily reprogrammed toalter the routines and functions of the recording devices 14 a-c and canoperate the recording devices 14 a-c in periodic recording, incidentrecording, and manned live viewing modes. The sensors 16 allow theprocessor 18 to alert the operator to certain incidences and otherissues. The kill box 22 allows the operator or the processor 18 to shutdown the well site upon dangerous conditions. The processor 18 uploadsvideos and other data sporadically or conservatively to ensuretransmission over limited bandwidth. In addition, the application allowsone operator or well owner to monitor more than one well site.

Although the invention has been described with reference to theembodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is notedthat equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.

Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what isclaimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includesthe following:
 1. A system for remotely monitoring a well site, thesystem comprising: a monitoring station; one or more recording devicesmounted on the monitoring station, the one or more recording devicesincluding a video camera for creating a video recording of well siteinformation; one or more motion sensors configured to be positioned nearwell components on the well site; a processor for: instructing the videocamera to create the video recording when one of the motion sensorssenses motion or according to a predetermined recording routine; andtransmitting signals representative of the recording of the well siteinformation to a remote server computer for storage and for allowing auser to view the recording on a remote monitoring computer; and a solarpanel mounted on the monitoring station for providing power to theprocessor and the recording devices; a kill box configured to open arelay so as to shut down a well component of the well site when one ofthe recording devices detects a critical condition or when activated bya well operator, wherein the recording devices further include amicrophone, wherein the monitoring station is a stand-alone framecomprising: three legs; three middle cross members connected between thelegs; a vertical top member extending upwards from the top crossmembers, at least one of the recording devices being mounted to a top ofthe vertical cross member so as to have an optimal vantage point, andwherein the processor is configured to instruct the video camera tocollect video data in any one of the following data collection modes;periodic recording, wherein the processor instructs the video cameraonce per predetermined cycle time to: start a recording; focus on afirst point of interest; focus on a second point of interest; and stoprecording; incident recording, wherein the processor instructs the videocamera to focus in the direction of an incident detected by the motionsensors; and live viewing, wherein the well operator can remotelycontrol the video camera via a computer application on the remotemonitoring computer.